Gari Gari Kun are great in the summer... they're regular "popsicle" on the outside, crunchy shaved-ice texture on the inside. They're cheap and you can buy 'em by the boxful at the supermarket or combini.

2) Japanese onomatopoeic words are frequently double-sounds but you never translate them into two english words - they are always one.

3) The title suffix -kun is not equivalent to "boy" but is similar in use to how we'd add "little" to the front of a kid's name for cuteness e.g. little timmy. It is however gender specific to boys, the alternative for girls being "chan".

A friend once told me about nieve de pasta, which I understood (and still do) as pasta-flavored ice cream, in the Mexican town of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, right by the lake of the same name, said it was right up there with the best ice cream she'd ever had.

Some time later, I found myself briefly in Pátzcuaro and asked a few locals where I could find this delicacy, but none knew. Now it's become a bit mythical in my mind, a bit larger than life.

EDIT: So I Googled it, turns out it's called pasta as in the English paste, it's in the way they knead the ice cream.

Japanese firms often try these bizarre assed flavors in the off chance they will be successful. 99.9% of the time they are not popular but it gets the company name in the paper or on boingboing... Marketing success! For those tempted to try these concoctions I should let you know the flavor is not the point.

So much typography, explanatory diagrams, grotesque artwork on the wrapper, inappropriate conversion of main-course cuisine into a dessert. It's almost too perfect as a parody of Japan to be real, except that's not even possible.